The system notification made the players, who were in the thick of battle, stop their "work."
"What happened? How did Kusagakure's leader die?"
"Aw! What a shame! That was a leader-tier boss! Killing him would've guaranteed a mountain of rewards!"
"Stop dreaming. Even if we threw our lives at a leader-tier boss, we might not be able to kill him."
"You all saw our Village Chief fighting that Grass Ninja expert earlier. I'm certain battles between leaders are scenario battles that we players can't take part in."
"Exactly. That fight between the Village Chief and the Grass Ninja expert was unforgettable. With our current strength, we wouldn't even amount to a snack for them."
"I know that, but it's still such a shame to think a leader-tier boss just died without us even knowing how!"
"There's no way we players can take part in a scenario battle set up by the game system. Now I'm more curious about who could've killed a leader-tier boss."
"My guess is it was most likely the captured Hidden Jun Village Chief."
"How is that possible? If the Hidden Jun Village Chief could kill the enemy leader, why would he have been taken prisoner and brought into Kusagakure?"
"Have you considered that being captured was part of the Village Chief's plan?"
"What? NPCs can use schemes? Bro, are you running a fever?"
"We can't rule it out. Otherwise, how do you explain the Village Chief fighting a hundred enemies alone earlier, only to get caught and become a 'prisoner' afterward? That's too big a difference."
"My guess is this has to be a scripted plot event designed to make things easier for the players."
"That makes sense. With a leader-tier boss holding the fort, we players couldn't take Kusagakure on our own."
"..."
The players